Blue Bird
by highaboveme
Summary: Ella knows two things about herself: one, she's a lesbian. Two, she's been in love with her best friend Hebe since the tenth grade. Unfortunately, Hebe's straight. And now she's getting a boyfriend. And Chun changes everything. [one-sided Ella/Hebe, eventual Chun/Ella]
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: Hi! This is by far not my first fanfic, but my first in this fandom and on this site. I swore I would never be lured into the world of Asian pop, but it turns out the cuteness was too strong to resist.

My overall goal is to write a nuanced and sensitive story that combines elements of romance, comedy and drama. That means there will be no villains and no heroes here - just flawed people making the best choices they can. So Hebe is not the villain here and neither are any other characters possibly keeping our two leads from getting together, including the leads themselves.

I know the premise of this story might initially put people off, but I promise the intention of this fic is purely Chun/Ella. However, to get there might require a mature and open-minded reader. There will be cursing and adult themes - though I do not plan to venture into explicit sex scenes - such as homosexuality, homophobia, infidelity and imperfect love.

I also plan on writing in other pairings for Chun and Ella, (for example, Chun/Hebe, Ella/Hebe, Jerry/Ella, Leehom/Ella), so if you are one of those people who absolutely cannot bear to see one or both halves of your pairing getting with other people, even temporarily, then turn back now.

If otherwise, then we shall go onward! I hope I do justice to this amazing and adorable pairing!

* * *

The club is small and dark and filled with scarcely clad bodies gyrating to the beat.

"There is a worrying lack of lesbos here," Leehom says.

In the crowd, Ella's back is pressed to his front. Leehom's arms are wound around her shoulders and his chin is resting on top of her head.

"What?" she yells. She can't hear anything over the pounding music.

He presses closer and leans toward her ear.

"There is a worrying lack of lesbos here!" he shouts. He's so close she can feel the damp heat of his breath when he yells.

If it were with anybody else, Ella would call it an intimate position. But it's Leehom. She just grabs his hand and says, "I told you this was hopeless."

Leehom makes a determined face and squeezes her hand. His palms are dry and warm.

"No way!" he says. "There must be a girl around here desperate enough."

Ella elbows him in the stomach and he jerks away.

"It's a joke!" he laughs over the pounding music. "Ah, stop, it's a joke!"

"Lame," she says, leaning her head back onto his chest.

Ella's been told her relationship with Leehom is "weird." But she doesn't know if it's weird because she's a lesbian and he's a straight guy and they're best friends, or if it's weird because they're also technically exes.

Ella dated Leehom in high school when she still thought she was straight. And she doesn't regret being a lesbian – obviously – but she hates that she hurt him in the process of coming out. She knows he really loved her; and she loved him too, in the best way she could, even though it wasn't enough.

But for as great as a boyfriend Leehom was, he makes an even better friend. If she was into guys, she knows she'd be into him.

A guy in glittery blue eye shadow and a mesh shirt comes up to them and points to Ella.

"Girlfriend?" he asks-screams Leehom.

"Platonic lesbian best friend," Leehom replies matter-of fact. Then he hurriedly adds. "I'm the straight wingman."

"What?" the guy yells.

"I'm her wingman!" Leehom yells back, making a bunch of ridiculous pointing motions towards himself. "Straight!"

The guy's face falls. "Oh," he says. "Have fun." He saunters off, melting into the dance floor.

"C'mon, why'd you have to chase that guy off!" she pokes Leehom in the ribs. "You could finally bring somebody home to your mom!"

"Ha-ha," Leehom says dryly. "Very funny. But we're here to find somebody for you, not me."

Ella doesn't even have to think about it; she knows there's no chance.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Leehom!" she says.

"What do you mean?" Leehom says, annoyed. "We just got here!"

She spins around so they're facing each other, "Thanks for trying, but I really don't think I'm going to find somebody here."

His eyes scan the club. There are a lot of people dancing on the floor and drinking at the bar. But not a lot of girls. And out of those, none of them are Hebe Tien.

Leehom sighs. He was hoping this wouldn't happen. He looks at Ella.

"There's still a chance," he says slowly. "Is there?"

She shakes her head.

"Sorry," she says, entwining their fingers and swinging their hands together.

"Let's just go get something to eat," she says. "How do you like the sound of that?"

"Fine," he says softly, sadly. He knocks their hands together. "But you're paying."

"What?" Ella squawks.

* * *

Hebe is watching TV in her pajamas when they get back.

"Hey, Ella!" she looks surprised. When she sees Leehom trailing behind, she gives him a less enthusiastic smile. "Leehom."

Leehom nods at her curtly.

Ella looks between her two best friends. It's not like they're aren't always polite to each other, but it's clear they share a mutual distrust. When they're in the same room, Ella inevitably feels awkward and torn in half.

"Thanks for dropping me off," she says too loudly to Leehom in an attempt to dispel the tension.

"Yeah, no problem," he says. "I'll see you soon?"

"Sure," she says quickly. "I'll text you, okay?"

He makes a face at her, but allows himself to be shooed out of the apartment. As soon as the door closes, Ella sighs in relief.

"So how was your night?" Hebe asks. She's still sitting on the couch and wearing a giant t-shirt and baggy pajama pants. Her hair is tied up in a messy bun and she isn't wearing any make up. Ella doesn't think she could be more beautiful.

"Um," Ella says, hurrying back to her own room. "It was okay."

She doesn't want to tell Hebe that she and Leehom went to a gay club to try and pick up a girl. A mission that was obviously unsuccessful, given that she's back home now, alone, and it's not even midnight.

It's not that Hebe doesn't know that Ella's gay. She was actually one of the first people to that Ella came out to. Ella bets that Hebe even already knows that Ella's in love with her. After all, it's not hard to guess. But still – it's embarrassing.

Ella goes to the bathroom and strips off her clothes and climbs into the shower. She can still hear the club's loud thumping music in her ears. Or maybe that's her heartbeat.

There had been a few cute girls at the club. She could have tried to talk to them, she knows. Maybe. And Leehom had wanted her to, too. He had hoped that another girl could help her move on past this hopeless crush.

But for some reason, she can't. No matter how much she reminds herself that Hebe's straight, that she'll never return the feelings, Ella can't.

Ella finishes showering and goes back to her room. Her limbs feel heavy and bloated, like anchors. She's exhausted.

She puts on her PJ's, and without bothering to dry her hair, she climbs into bed and falls asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

On weekends, Ella volunteers at the LGBT center downtown. She's not really sure what her exact job title is, but mostly she answers phones, organizes pamphlets and fixes the coffee machine when Selina breaks it.

Selina is the manager of the office. What that means is that instead of doing nothing out in the lobby, she does nothing in her own private office. She's also straight, but apparently she loves gay people so much she wants to dedicate half a week of shitty wages to them. _Ella_ doesn't even love gay people that much.

The Saturday after that fruitless excursion with Leehom, Ella's with Selina at the new tea café down the street relating the tale.

"Well," says Selina after Ella finishes. "Maybe you just went to the wrong club."

"I don't even know any clubs," Ella says morosely. "And it's not really my scene anyway."

They're sitting out on the patio of the restaurant underneath one of the tables with the umbrellas because Selina is perpetually afraid of getting tan. There aren't a lot of people sitting outside, but they have a good view of the street and pedestrians walking by.

Selina shrugs. "There are a lot of rec activities just for lesbians, you know. Like softball teams and stuff."

Ella gives her a disgusted look. "Wow, way to stereotype."

"I'm not stereotyping!" Selina shrieks, flicking her straw at Ella.

"I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding," Ella laughs, leaning her head on Selina shoulder. "Oh, don't be mad at me, Sel, big sis."

"Big sis-?" Selina says indignantly, pinching Ella's arm. "I'm younger than you!"

Ella giggles and throws her arms up around Selina. "So should I call you Selina little sis?"

"Wait," Selina suddenly turns serious. "Stop, Ella."

Ella raises her eyebrow, "What?"

"Those guys," Selina says nervously. "They're looking at us."

Ella looks up. Sure enough, there are some guys walking down the street who are staring at them. Ella flushes.

She doesn't think they're really doing anything incriminating. They could be two straight girls fooling around. Except Selina's wearing the organization's t-shirt – which has a giant rainbow flag on the back – and Ella is. Well Ella is dressed as she normally is – baseball cap and basketball shorts. They look incredibly lesbian.

The guys turn to each other and laugh. One of them wolf whistles.

Selina ducks her head and avoids eye contact. It only makes Ella angrier. Neither of them should have to be afraid or ashamed just for joking around.

"Hey!" Ella jumps out of her seat. "What are you looking at!"

The guys howl with laughter.

"It's okay, Ella," says Selina. "They're just homophobes."

Ella glares at them. They seem to have lost interest and are now moving across the street. She sinks back down in her chair.

"I hate those kinds of people," Ella sighs.

"Don't worry about it," Selina says. "Just try not to provoke them."

"Provoke them?" Ella says indignantly. "We weren't even doing anything!"

"I know, I know," Selina raises her hands. "But people like that are unpredictable. We have to be careful."

Ella deflates and sags back into her seat. "Yeah," she sighs. "It just sucks."

Selina grabs her hand and pats it lightly. "It does. It really does."

Just then, Ella's phone beeps. It's a text message.

_Can you come home? Now?_

There are three question marks, Ella notes. Very urgent. She stuffs the phone back into her pocket.

"Sorry, Selina," says Ella. "I have to go. Can you punch out the clock for me back at work?"

"What is it?" Selina asks. "Is there something wrong?"

Ella shrugs. "I don't know. Hebe just texted me."

Selina's expression hardens. "Hebe?"

"Yeah," Ella says. "What's wrong with Hebe?"

Selina shakes her head. "I can't believe you're still in love with that straight girl," she says, practically to herself.

Ella sniffs. "Well what's it to you?"

"Just saying," Selina says. "I mean, she calls, you run. Am I right?"

Ella flushes. Selina is right. But it's none of her business to say that kind of stuff. She doesn't know their relationship.

"I don't get why all my friends have a problem with Hebe," Ella mutters. "First Leehom, now you."

Selina rolls her eyes. "Well maybe there's a reason. Like they don't want to see you get hurt?"

_Hebe wouldn't hurt me_, is what her first instinct tells her to say. But she knows it isn't true. Just by _existing_, Hebe is hurting her.

"Hebe is my friend," Ella says instead. "And I'm going to go figure out what's her problem. So I don't have time to fight with you right now."

"Alright, alright," Selina waves her hand. "Just go. I'll see you at work."

Ella gathers her bag and puts her hat on. "Yeah, I'll see you too."

Home is a flat that she shares with Hebe not that far away. They started as dorm mates in college, but they're still as broke as they were back then, so it's only economical to continue rooming together now. Ella knows this must be doing some unhealthy things to her psyche, not to mention that festering crush, but she'd would rather not examine it; she's never had Hebe more than a stone's throw away since they lived next door in the fourth grade.

When she walks into the apartment, Hebe is standing on the coffee table. She's wearing going-out clothes and has her high heels dangling in her hand.

"Thank god you're here, Ella!" she says. "I didn't know who else to call!"

"What is it?" Ella asks, throwing her bag onto the couch. "What happened?"

"There's a mouse in our kitchen," Hebe says. She giggles sheepishly. "Can you take care of it?"

"Oh," she says. She really wants to say more, but uncharacteristically, none of the words come to mind. All her brain cells seem to be preoccupied with replaying what Selina said earlier.

_I mean, she calls and you run. Am I right?_

The mouse can be heard squeaking and scurrying behind the fridge. Ella sets out a graham cracker on the ground and waits until the mouse has inched its way out and is cautiously crunching on the bait before she covers it up with the bowl. From then, it's easy to transfer it into a shoebox.

"I'm taking it outside," she tells Hebe, tucking the box under her arm.

"Thank god!" Hebe says, getting down off the coffee table. "I was so afraid of getting off the table and I thought I wouldn't make it to my date!"

Ella tries not to have a reaction. The dressed-up outfit, the shoes, the makeup on Hebe's face all make sense now.

"Oh," she says. "Have fun."

"Thank you, wifey!" Hebe grins. "I love you!"

And just like that, Ella's being pulled back in. She has to get out of here before she says something she'll regret. Like, _I'm in love with you and I think you already know but you obviously don't care so I'm basically dying on the inside._

Ella leaves quickly. The box is still moving in her arms and she holds it in front of her.

"Little mouse," she sighs. "I know how you feel."

The mouse stills for a moment, most likely at the sound of her voice. But she likes to imagine it's because he understands.

Ella peels the lid back a fraction.

"It's okay," she says into the box. "I know you feel trapped now. But you're going to be free soon. I'm taking you out to the garden in the back of our building. I promise you, it's very nice. Lots of plants to play around in, and lots of food to eat. Be careful of the cats though, I wouldn't want you to get eaten."

"What are you doing?" a voice comes from behind her.

Ella yelps and slams the box close. There's a guy standing there in the hallway that she hadn't noticed before. She doesn't think he's one of the neighbors because she doesn't recognize him.

"Oh, uh," she laughs nervously. "I'm just. Uh, there's a mouse in this box."

"I see," he nods slowly. "A mouse."

He's looking at her like she's insane. She laughs again and rubs her neck.

"Yeah," she says. "I caught it and now I'm taking it outside to the garden."

"And you're talking to it," he says.

"Well," she finds herself petting the box and stops. "You know, it's probably pretty scared right now. It needs a little help."

The guy doesn't say anything for a while. Ella scuffs her shoe and opens her mouth to excuse herself but then he interrupts her.

"Do you need help?" he asks.

"Like, mentally?" she says. She'd be offended, except he just caught her talking to a box. "Uh, I don't think so…"

"No," he says. The corner of his lips turn up a little. "I mean, with the mouse."

"Oh," she says. "It's okay. I mean, you're probably busy."

"I'm not busy," he says very quickly. He shrugs and looks down. "I just. It'd be cool."

And now is he turning pink? Ella hides her smile behind her hand.

"Oh," she says.

"Yeah," he says, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I like- I like animals."

"Sure," she laughs. "It's fine. C'mon, let's go."

She tucks the box back under her arm and reaches out for a handshake.

"I'm Ella, by the way," she says.

He pauses before he grabs her hand and gives it a short shake. "I'm Chun."

"Nice to meet you," she looks at him sideways. "Are you usually this quiet?"

He shrugs silently.

"Ah, that's fine!" she says. "My friends say I talk enough for two people!"

They're on the third floor, so it doesn't take long to get downstairs. It's also two in the afternoon, so the lobby is fairly deserted and the courtyard behind the building is a ghost town.

"I'd really like a backyard," she says, walking down the concrete steps onto the grass. "But I have to wait until I finish my residency before I can afford to move out of here."

For as little as he speaks, his facial expressions can convey a thousand words. This one says, _Really? You're a doctor?_

"Actually, I'm a nurse. So a step down from a doctor," she laughs to herself. "Oh, I'm just kidding. Of course we nurses are the backbone of a hospital!"

She makes a triumphant fist in the air and is glad to see him laugh at her actions. She's always liked making people happy, and Chun is no exception. He has a nice smile.

"So," she tucks her arm back underneath the box, "What do you do, Chun?"

"I'm a fitness instructor," he says. "I work at the gym over on 2nd and Lane 21."

"I know that place!" she says. "I used to have membership there."

"Maybe we crossed paths before," he says.

"Were you an instructor around, uh," she pauses to think. "2005?"

He shakes his head. "Oh no, I hadn't moved to Taiwan then."

"Yeah, I can tell you're not Taiwanese," she says. "You kind of have a weird accent."

She realizes what she says just as it leaves her lips and quickly claps a hand over her mouth.

"Oh!" she says. "I'm sorry, that's so rude!"

She bows as hard as she can, but it tips her off balance and she stumbles forward, head-butting Chun in the stomach.

The sound he makes is kind of comical – a combination of a cough and a gasp. But Ella feels so bad, she can't really see the humor in the situation.

"Oh, are you okay?" she starts to run forward, then backs away when he sends her one of his looks. _Do I _look_ okay?_ it asks.

"Do you need an ice pack?" she asks. "I can run upstairs!"

"No," he huffs and coughs. He says from his position doubled over. "It's fine, it's fine."

"Are you sure?" she asks.

"Yes," he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and rises back up. He's slightly red. "Yes, it's fine."

"I'm really so sorry," she says. "Sorry!"

"You're so strong," he says. "Rough."

"Hey!" she says. "I'm not rough!"

He levels a stare at her that makes her take a step back.

"Heh," she rubs her forehead. "Wait, I guess you're right. I am pretty rough."

"Nah," he shrugs and looks off into the distance. There's a small smile quirked on his lips. "I like it."

She blushes and then admonishes herself for it. What is it with this reaction? She doesn't like guys, so why is she acting like a schoolgirl? Ella pinches herself on the arm and it jolts her out of her thoughts. It's probably just the unfamiliarity of being complimented by a guy, she reasons.

"Let's go find a good place to let out Little Mouse," she says, probably a little too loudly.

The courtyard's perimeter is surrounded by a garden, verdant with shrubbery and rosebushes. She goes to the garden and puts the box on the ground.

"Do you think he'll be able to find food?" she asks Chun worriedly.

"He should be fine," Chun says and she jerks back. He's closer than she thought. "Mice are scavengers."

"Mm," she nods. "That's good."

She pulls back the lid and sets it aside. Little Mouse is inside, sniffing around. When the box opens, he darts for light. In a second, he's out of the box and weaving into the plants. Then he's gone.

"Aww," she jokes. "They grow up so fast, don't they?"

"Seems like just yesterday he was born," Chun quips back.

Ella laughs, "He probably was, you know."

Chun doesn't reply. When she looks at him, he seems to be deep in thought.

"Hello?" she waves her hand in front of him. "Anybody home?"

His arms snaps up and catches her hand in a tight grip. She yelps in surprise.

"Hey!" she says.

"Oh," he looks embarrassed but doesn't let go of her hand. She has to wrench it out herself.

"And you say I'm rough," she sighs, rubbing her wrist.

"I'm sorry," he says. "Are you okay?"

She stares down at her arm and the fading red mark Chun left on her wrist. It looks angry like a sunburn and it hurts. But.

Ella bursts out laughing. She has to hold her stomach with how hard the laughs shake her.

"Hahaha!" she shrieks.

"What is it?" he asks anxiously, like maybe she's fallen off the edge. "What's going on?"

"No," she says through laughter, wiping away tears. "It's just funny, that's all."

"What?" he says.

"We've only just met each other and already we're both injured," she says. "We're both such rough people!"

Then he starts to laugh too. And the laugh seems to take him by surprise, shaking his entire body. His eyes crinkle, she notices, when he laughs.

"Ella!" a voice interrupts.

Ella wipes away a tear and looks up to see Hebe standing a few yards away. Her flared skirt emphasizes the way she juts her hip out. She's crossing her arms over a pale pink sweater.

"Oh, hey Hebe," Ella says. "What is it?"

Hebe looks between her and Chun. Surprisingly, she directs her next words to him.

"So are you ready to go?" she asks.

"Huh?" Ella says. "You guys know each other?"

"Of course!" Hebe says. She bounces over and grabs Chun's arm. "He's my date!"


	3. Chapter 3

"Twenty bucks that Dr. Akira is sleeping with one of the interns," Ella chews on her pen and spits the pen cap at Jerry.

"What?" Jerry is playing Solitaire on his computer. The pen cap hits him in the forehead and bounces onto the floor.

Ella raises her eyebrows at him. "Would it seriously surprise you?"

Dr. Akira is the hospital's radiologist as well as the resident pervert. Ella has had the misfortune of working with him a few times and she thinks the guy belongs in a Hazmat suit for all the sleaze he exudes.

Jerry shrugs. "I don't think I'm quite Dr. Akira's type, so I can't say."

"Oh yeah, five-nine and ugly as sin," she says. "I don't think so either."

"You mean five-eleven and six pack abs," he shoots back.

"You're not five-eleven!" she says.

"Fine," he mutters. "Five-ten. But that's the truth!"

It's a Monday mid-morning at the hospital. They've been sent to staff the maternity ward, which is short on receptionists today, and so far, they've spent the whole shift making appointments for pregnant women and rating which of the nurses they would have sex with, in order.

"It's so boring," Ella complains. "It smells like baby crap in this whole hall."

"Maybe you should check your diaper, you baby," Jerry says.

"Watch it," she says. "I know where you live."

"Ooh," he thrusts his chest out and shimmies toward her lasciviously. "_Kinky_."

"Get off of me, pervert!" she laughs at his dance routine. "Was your last job at a strip club?"

"You love it," he says, bopping and swiveling his hips closer with the beat of the imaginary music. "Make it rain!"

"_Am I interrupting something?_" they suddenly hear a voice at the doorway.

"Joanna!" Jerry yelps and stands up, trying to pretend he wasn't just shaking his imaginary cleavage all over the place.

Joanna squeaks and holds up a stack of papers. "I just need somebody to run the Xiang files over to NICU."

"I'll do it!" Jerry jumps at the chance to get out of the situation. He practically rips the papers out of Joanna hands in a chance to get out of the room.

Ella groans at being left alone with Joanna. The nurse is a huge gossip with no concept of social boundaries.

As expected, the moment Jerry leaves, Joanna's eyes brighten and she darts to Ella's side.

"So," she says slowly. "You and Jerry?"

"Oh, no," Ella says quickly. "No way. He has a girlfriend, you know?"

She knows that some people assume, if only because among the nurses, she and Jerry are the closest. But Ella thinks that their relationship is more akin to one of – and she thinks this is the official term – "work-spouses."

Joanna pouts. "Are you sure?"

"Uh," Ella says. "I'm sure. You know, right? That I'm gay?"

"Yeah," Joanna says. "But you guys are really…close."

"Not that way," Ella insists. She grits her teeth and tries not to bite off Joanna's head.

"Really."

"He has a girlfriend," Ella says. "And just saying, Lin would kill me if she thought anything was going on between Jerry and I."

"Huh," Joanna looks disappointed. "Well if you ever decide you're not a lesbian, you should totally get with Jerry. He's so hot."

Ella does a poor attempt of hiding her grimace. She only has to deal with Joanna for a few more minutes, she reminds herself. And luckily, Joanna is starting to look bored from the lack of juicy gossip.

"I gotta get back," Joanna says eventually. "I'm getting a page from Dr. Hsu."

"Yeah, I'll see you," Ella says. "Bye!"

She sends a text to Leehom then.

_joanna just asked if Jerry and i were fucking. her stupidity knows no bounds_

A reply blows up her screen a few minutes later.

_tell her ur a lesbo and u dont want Jerry u want her and her delish vag_

Ella laughs – Leehom never fails to make her smile when she's angry.

_hahahaha yeah if i want her to file a restraining order against me. do u want takeout today?_

His reply is only one word: _fuckya_

After work, she swings by and gets some dumplings from a stand near the hospital. The elevator in Leehom's building is broken, so she has to climb up the stairs to the fifth floor where his apartment is with the box of food.

"You better be grateful," she says when he answers the door, still dressed in his dress shirt and slacks. "I had to hike Mount Fuji to get up here."

"Oh yeah," Leehom says, letting her in. "Some asshole punched the fuse box and messed up some of the wiring. Tough luck."

She sets the food down on the table and collapses at a chair.

"I'm so tired," she groans. "I don't want to work anymore."

"Don't we all," Leehom says. He goes and pulls back the lid of the dumplings. "Oh God yes, I'm going to make sweet sweet love to these."

"Get a room," Ella sighs. "I'm about to throw up."

They fix themselves dinner and sit down at the couch to eat.

"Alice was eye-raping me at work today," Leehom complains, cramming a dumpling into his mouth. "I felt so violated."

"Alice?" Ella says, remembering a pretty and petite – if not dimwitted – girl from Leehom's company Christmas party. "She's cute."

Leehom works some nondescript job at a corporation that distributes bath salts, lotion and other girly goods. As a result, he frequently smells like apple and cinnamon perfume samples and is always and invariably being harassed by his mostly-female coworkers. His life is really hard.

He shakes his head and doesn't say anything. Ella takes another bite of her dumplings.

"Seriously," she nudges him with her foot. "What's wrong with her?"

"There's doesn't have to be anything _wrong_ with her," he says. He sighs and looks down. "There's just nothing _right_ about her either, you know?"

She shakes her head. "That's a shit reason," she says. "You didn't even give her a chance. And she's exactly your type!"

"My type?" Leehom says, looking annoyed. "What do you know about my type?"

"Oh, you know," she says. "Beautiful and with a good figure. A lot here," she gestures at her chest, "And not much up here," at her head.

"Oh, fuck you," he says. "That's some bullshit. And don't pretend you don't do the same thing."

"What?" she says.

"Yeah," he says. "You won't give girls a chance because you think you're in love with Hebe."

"I think I'm in love with Hebe-?" she scowls indignantly. "I don't just _think_ I'm in - no. Fuck you, what do you even know about this feeling?"

Leehom laughs and rolls his eyes. "You don't know anything about me."

"I think it's the other way around," she says, getting up and brushing off her clothes. "I'm leaving. I came over to chill out but you're being a big fucking asshole right now."

"Don't let the door hit you on the way out," he says dismissively, waving his hand at her.

She turns red. "Oh, seriously, fuck you."

She stomps over to the door. "Bye," she barks, and then storms out.

It's not her first fight with Leehom, and it's not even one of the most ferocious, but this time, she's left feeling strangely guilty. She wishes she hadn't dug at him like that.

She wanders home in the dark, feeling shitty and comes home to an empty apartment. She finished her share of dumplings at Leehom's, but now she wants to stress-eat, so she roots through the fridge and victoriously unearths a jar of peanut butter that will do.

"What does he even know?" she mutters to herself angrily, violently digging her spoon in the jar.

The door opens then and Hebe walks in. Her bangs are plastered to her forehead and she throws her purse down on the couch.

"Damn yuppies," she kicks the wall. "Tell me Ella why I thought it would be a good idea to be a restaurant host to these spoiled rich kids?"

"Because you need their spoiled rich kids money?" Ella says, pointing the spoon of peanut butter at her.

"Peanut butter?" Hebe makes a disgusted face. Then her face shifts into a softer expression. "What happened?"

"What do you mean what happened?" Ella grumbles. "Nothing happened."

"You don't break out the peanut butter unless something happened," Hebe says. "C'mon, tell me."

Ella sighs and throws the spoon into the sink. It bounces off the porcelain with a loud clank and she curses. Nothing is going her way today.

"Leehom and I got in a fight," she says. "I don't even know over what, it was so stupid."

Hebe goes to her side and puts her arm around her. Ella suddenly feels very conscious of all the parts – her shoulder, Hebe's hand – where they are touching.

"It's okay, Ella," Hebe. "You guys are best friends. You'll find a way to work it out."

Ella can only nod, frozen, afraid that if she moves, this will end. Hebe's arm is warm.

"It'll be okay," Hebe smiles and let's go. She leans back on the counter. "Hmm."

"What?" Ella says. She lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding and notices Hebe's thoughtful expression. "What is it?"

Hebe shrugs. "It's just weird that it would come out of nowhere."

Ella looks sideways at Hebe. She's still wearing her work uniform – a black pantsuit that makes her body a long thing line – and she's tapping her foot on the floor in thought.

"Maybe he's in love with you," Ella's roommate says suddenly. It comes completely out of left field.

"_What?_ No way!"

It's probably the most ridiculous idea Ella has ever heard in her whole life, including that time that her stepbrother tried to convince her to invest in his "start-up." Leehom is many things, but he is _definitely _not in love with her.

"It's not totally improbable," Hebe scoffs at the incredulity on Ella's face. "You guys are best friends after all. A guy and a girl-."

Ella cuts her off. "Well not this guy and girl. I mean, I'm not exactly… You know."

"Straight?" Hebe says, putting her hands of her hips. "So what? Sometimes the heart just wants what the heart wants."

_I know the feeling_, Ella thinks. Out loud, she says, "Leehom and I are just friends."

"_Just friends_," Hebe adds with a waggle of her eyebrows.

"What's with the tone?" Ella says. "He's _not_."

"Fine, fine," Hebe sighs. "If you don't believe me."

"I don't," Ella says firmly. "Because Leehom is not in love with me."

"Yeah, yeah," Hebe holds her hands up in surrender. She doesn't look entirely convinced, more like she's trying to hide a smile.

"You know what, I'm going to my room," Ella says, picking up her jar of peanut butter. "To drown my sorrows."

Hebe chirps and waves. "Good luck!"


End file.
